Safety flow control device



Sept. 4, 1951 H C, QT|S SAFETY FLOW CONTROL DEVICE Filed Jn. 8, 1949 Herbe/' C'. Offs [NVE/WUR A TTOR/VE YJ Patented Sept. 4, 1951 UNITED STATES rATENT OFFICE 24.566376 SAFETY FLOW CONTRO;V DEVICE Herbert C. Otis, Dallas, Tex. Applicaties January 8, 1949, serial No. 69,870

11 A* This invention relates" toiinprovernentsin surface safety control devices and refers more particularly to apparatus adapted foruse asan automatic close off for aflow conduit whena preda water, partioularlywhere substancesv such as oil or the like are to be transported; that the operation of such devices" shall not involve a venting' or discharge'of fluid into the water.

An object of this invention is to provide a surface safety control device `which is actuated by the pressure fluid to be controlled and which will be effective to close the conduit upon occurrence of predetermined flow conditions Within the conduit. l

A further object is to provide a surface safety control device which will not discharge fluids `into the atn'lospherev upon actuation thereof.

Another object is to provide a surface safety control device ofthe character described that may be installed a flow conduit immediately adjacent the source of fluid to beV transported.

Still another object is to provide a surface safety' control device adaitntedl to automatically close off a conduit vvhfe'n'the rate of fluid new through the conduit falls below a predetermined value wherein the fluid controlled provides the power medium for actuating the device.

A still further object is to providea mechanism adaptable for closing valves controlling flow through conduits wherein the iiuid" controlled provides the actuatingmpower for the' mechanism.

Other and further objects. of invention will appear from the description.

ln the accompanying drawings which forni` a part of the instant 'specification and are to be read in conjunction therewith; and wherein like reference numerals 'are employed to designate like parts in the various views: i y Fig; l is a vertical cross-sectional view ofV a device embodying this invention; and' Fig. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view upon an enlarged scale illustrating the control valve mechanisrn'of the device shown in Fig'. 1.

" Rfei'rito the drawings; there is `Shown at 5 Claims. (Cl. 137-153) 5a valve body adapted to be connected inv acon'-l duit and which may `be-se'cured to a flow fitting 6 havin-gV disposed therein a ii'ovv restrict/or 1: The valve may be of the gate type ill adapted;A to seat in auw-edge type vseat 8 when in a lowered position Within the body and adapted to onor substantially no resistance to flow through the' body when in the raised position shown in the drawings; This particular'va-lve is `shown by` `way of illustration only and not by way of limitation; and it is contemplated 'that any conventional valve may be employed whichl has a valve meniber that is positlvelynioved from openedto closed position.

The valve body has an upper flange `5-a" tol which may bersecureda bonnet Il! providing a` housing for a fluid operated mechfanisrri` for clesing the valve.v Bonnet Illrh'a'sa flange vat its` lower end correspniding to nange 5=a adapted to receive fastener` flements il Afor holding'- they bonnet secured in sealed relation with the valve body. 1

The interior of bonnet Il) provides aI pressure chamber for housing' a pressure responsive inem# ber shown generally at il.' which may constitute apiston reciprocall'y rnouiitedwithinl the cvlindrical housing; Thispiston` divides 'then interior` of the housing into two variable capacity pres-1` sure compartments; yThe piston may be made up of a mandrel l having a reduced diameter portion which provides'v an external shoulder against which a packing assemblymavhe se `ure`d by a nut l`4` threaded thereto: A suitable packingv assembly may inoludeawashe |15', a lip typelseal element I B and a spaeer washer Il for holding the lips of the elernent apart solthat the pressure within theupper compartment, when greater thanl that within th lwr Compartment; will hold the lips eji'pandedl against the mandrel and The piston has anv actuating conz'ie'ctionA with the1 form of rod or stem i8` valve member 8L in` y threadedrat On end to mandrel I3 and at the other end to the valve rneinber; The stem eit-` tends fofrl the 1wlf e`nd of the bonnet andy through astuiiing bocalrd by the bonnet fori providing asliding seal. This stuffing box inby spacers 2 I.

lied upon to expand the lips of elements 20 to provide the seal and the elements are not held under compression by the gland nut 22. This particular arrangement is preferred because of its substantially frictionless characteristics but other stuii'ing box arrangements may be employed. y

Mandrel |3 provides a part of the stem and has an extension leading upwardly through a seal assembly which may be any conventional seal assembly such as, for instance, a plastic packing type arrangement wherein the plastic packing is charged to sealing position through a tting 23. The upper end of the mandrel resides within a cap 24 and is threaded to an extension 25 which extends exteriorly of the cap. This cap 24 and extension 25 provide a means for slowing down the speed of closure of the main valve, which stood that with this pressure relief valve 3| open, the low pressure compartment will ,communicate with the low pressure part of the conduit controlled, to create a pressure differential across the pressure responsive member or piston I2. However, with valve 3| closed and with the piston I2 in its raised position, the pressure in the two compartments of the pressure chamber will be equal.

Referring to the details of the preferred relief valve 3|, the arrangement is such that the connection between the compartment and the conduit contains a seat 35 against which a valve element, as ball 36, is urged by the pressure diferential thereacross. The seat may carry a resilient seal element 35-a. A resilient means is provided for constantly urging valve member 36 toward unseated position with a predeterin practice is often so fast that valve body 5 .is

damaged by the impact of valve member 8 against its seat. To effect this slow down of closure, the enlarged head ofv extension 25A yhas an outer diameter with respect to the' inner diameter of the cap 24 as to effect a sliding lit.A VA suitable iiuid, as for example that used in automotive hydraulic brake systems, may be placed within cap 24 to provide a L dash pot eiect retarding speed of operation of the valve.

v The extension 25 has a threaded end externally of cap 24 for receiving a hand tool 26 which, taken with the spacer element 27, provides a means for manually opening the main valve element. A manually controlled valve 28 is provided to ventV the upper compartment of the pressure chamber to Vfacilitate opening of the main valve. v

A means is provided for pressurizing both of the pressurecompartments of the pressure chamber with fluid from the conduit upstream from restrictor This may include connections communicating between the compartments and the conduit in the form of an axial passage 29 in stem I8 which communicates 4with the interior ofy the valve body. A `radial passage 29,-'"`communi cates between'thepressure compartment beneath the piston and passage Zilwhenthe` pressure responsive member is in the position shown but is blocked 01T. to break this connectionupon slight movement of the pressure responsive member downwardly to bring the radial passage within the uppermost of seals 20.* The upper pressure compartment communicates with passage 23V through passage 30 extending axially of mandrel I3 and having a radial portionatitsl upper end.

In order to actuate the main valve, a means is supplied for creating a pressure diierential 'across pressure responsive member I2 upon oc-4 currence of a predeterminedflow condition within the conduit. This means comprises a connection between thepressurecompartment Vto be relieved and the conduit to be controlled at a point downstream fromy the `flow restrictor This connection is controlled by a relief valve which is actuated in response to the pressure differential between the compartment and the conduit on the low pressure side of the restrictor.

In the embodiment shown, the pressure reliefvalve is indicated generally at 3| and includes a' nipple 32 threaded into a-.socket 33 carried bythe bonnet. This socket hasa portV which commu'- nicates with the lowercompartment of the bonnet. Nipple 32 has a lateral port in which one end of pipe 34k is connected. TheY other end of pipe 34 is connected in the flow tting 6 on the low pressure sideofrestrictor Tl. It will be undermined force. With this arrangement, when the ow within the conduit falls below a predetermined rate, the pressure drop across restrictor I will be so small as to permit unseating of valve 36 to relieve the pressure on the underside of piston I2. l Y

Preferably, the relief valve should be Aof the,` snap action typewhiehfupo'n occurrence of a slight leak past the valve member, will snaptov full open position and permit Arapid venting or. reduction in pressure lvi'fithin`the lowerr pressureV compartment. To accomplish `this,` valve 361s held against seat 35 by a'weak spring V31 secured to a retainer element V38. The yretainer element has a recess Within which the valve'ine'mber and spring reside and is threaded interiorly. 0f nipple 32. The retainer has a reduced diameter por-Y tion extending into the port. Pressure fluid from the pressure compartment beneath the' piston passes through the annulafspaceencir'cling the end of the retainer and passagesf38-a into the interior recess of the retainer( 'Thisretainer also holds seat 3 5 agai t shoulder 32"-a" internally of the nipp1e, I

The passage throughthe nipple has a restricted4 portion v32-1; which is sbstan'uau'y' blocked by'V the head 39V of the unseating means. The head Head 39 having a smaller'diameter than .the di,-V

ametervof the seat for va1ve`36, the force resistingA opening of the relief. valve is materially reduced and spring 4I urges valve-436 to full open position, with a snap action.- `In this .full open position,V the narrow neck portion securing headv39 to,ele' ment 470,"11esdes within the-constricted portion-I of the passage. The annularvopening thus 'vprovided has suiiicient area to rapidly vent the lower,A pressure compartment and'should be consider'-V` ably greater than the area-of- Iopening 29e-a. Spring 4| may have an adjustable mounting within case 42 so Y thatfthe v,tension of the spring may be varied to afford an adjustmentfor ther setting of the relief valve. -f'hisadjustmentnfiay` be provided by securing th end ofthe *spring re-v mote from the valve to stopf 43 This stoplfis carried by a stem extendingffrom theffend of.

case 42 ,through a packing glandnut 45. Pack? ing material -46`is compressed betweenH-thefnut- 45 and internal lshoulderjformed onr ,ca s e|l;2.l Stem 44 is threaded ,t0 111112-45. and basamearrecifes circular endportion for receiving" a tool" te raecnitate rotation tnemofl te advance or retract stop 43 within the casing. The stem may be locked adjusted position by lcickl nut 45-a.

Y It'iskbelieved thatthe operation of the device of this invention is apparent from the foregoing description. The main valve members hasan actuating connection" with the pressure resi'ion'- sive member' or'piston I2` and the pressure chamber is Supplied with the same pressure on both sides of the piston. This pressure comes from the' interior of the valve body which resides upstream from restrictor 1. Inasmuch as flow iit-` ting Bis located downstream-from the valve body, the device` may be secured either directlylto a welll` head,` pressure vessel or the like; or closely adjacent thereto', to protect"substantially'the entire length o'fthe conduit.

Whenthe flow throughltheconduitis such as toproduceapredetermined pressure drop across the restrictor 1`, means is provided for relieving the pressure from the compartment on the underside of the piston|-2 so as to move the piston toward valve closing direction and the main valve element is forced to seated position. In the assembly of this invention, as it is shown, this latter occurs when the pressure drop across the restrictor falls below a predetermined value as, for instance, when the conduit downstream from the safety device becomes obstructed as by freezing; up of the conduit or associated outlet equipment. g

The reduction of pressure within the lower pressure compartment cf the chamber, interiorly of bonnet Hl, occurs when" the'force of spring lil, which' may be adjusted to any predetermined tensionovercomesthe force of the pressure differential between the compartment to be relieved and the conduit on the low pressure side of the restrictor 1 acting against the valve member 36 across the area of the seat ring 35a. The relief valve 3l preferably is of a snap action type as, for instance, the ones shown in the drawings, so that the actuating mechanism will be positively actuated to close the main valve. Upon slight unseating of valve member 36, the pressure across the member substantially equalizes, and when this occurs, the only force resisting spring 4I is the force of the pressure differential across head 39. Inasmuch as the effective area of head 39 is less than the effective area of valve member 36, this force is less than the force that spring 4I has already overcome and the spring is effective to force the valve member 36 to full open position with a snap action. When this occurs, the annular space between the constricted portion of the port shown at 32-b and the narrow neck which joins head 39 to element 4l! provides a passage of greater cross-sectional area than the area of port 29-a, whereby the pressure within the lower compartment of the pressure chamber is quickly reduced to that on the low pressure side of restrictor 1. This creates a pressure differential across piston l2 driving it in a direction to close the main valve member 8.

When it is desired to open the valve, valve 28 is opened, hand tool 26 is moved to the end of extension 25 and spacer 21 is placed in its dotted line position. Hand tool 26 is then rotated and due to its threaded connection to extension 25, the extension is raised pulling piston I2 to its raised position, and main valve member 8 to its raised or open position. Stem 44 is then backed off, to relieve the tension of spring 4I, so that Weak spring 31 will seat valve 36. Then valve 2t` is closed, spacer 21 is removed, hand'tool 2-6 isirai'sedlto its upper position on; the end of ex': tension`25', and the relief valve 3l is again set` by adjusting the' axial positionof stem 44. During this resetting of the relief valve,Y lock nut. A51-a is not disturbed and insures a resetting of the valve withthe same `spring tension as before. Qi course, if desired, lock nut 45''a may be ad.;H justed to a new selected position axially of stem 44tto change the tension on spring 4l so that the main valve will be closed upon occurrence ofte. different ow condition within conduit fitting 6.

From the foregoing it will be seen that this inventionisone well adapted to" attain all of the ends and objects hereinabove set forth together with other advantages which are obvious and which are' inherent to' the structure.

Itwill be understood that certainfeatures and subcombinations are of utility and may be eine` ployedwithout reference to other features and subcombinations. This iscontemplated by and is within the scope of the claims.

.As many possible embodiments may be made of the invention without departing from the scope-thereof, itis to be understood that all matter herein set forth or shown in the accompany# ingdrawings-is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in af limiting sense.

The invention having been described, what is claimed is:

1. In combination a conduit, a valve disposed in the conduit with a` valve member adapted to control flow' through the conduit and pressure actua-ted means for closing the valve including ali-housinghaving a chamber with a pressure responsive member therein dividing it into two pressure compartments, a drive connection bei tween the pressureI responsive member andvalve member for shifting the latter in response to movement of the pressure responsive member, and means for providing a pressure differential across the pressure responsive member for actuating same upon occurrence of predetermined now conditions within the conduit, said latter means including a ow restrictor in the conduit, connections for supplying pressure fluid from the conduit on the upstream side of the restrictor to the two pressure compartments and :a relief valve for one of the compartments mounted to place it in communication with the conduit downstream of the restrictor, said relief valve responsive to the pressure differential between the pressure compartment to be relieved :and the conduit on the downstream side of the restrictor and adapted to open upon occurrence of a predetermined differential, and means closing of communication between the relief valve and connection for pressurizing the compartment with rrhich the relief valve is connected when the valve member is shifted to closed position.

2. Pressure actuated mechanism adaptable for use in conjunction with a valve for controlling flow through a conduit, comprising a housing with a cylindrical chamber therein, a piston mounted for reciprocation within the chamber, an actuating rod connected to the piston and extending from the chamber with a sliding seal between the housing and rod, a now tting with a iiow restrictor therein, said fitting adapted to be connected in a conduit to form a part of the flow passage, passages communicating with the chamber on both sides of the piston and adapted to oe connected to the flow tting upstream of the restrictor, a port in the housing located to communicate with the chamber only on one side of the. pistn, a connection between the portxand the fiow fitting downstream of the restrictor, and apressure responsive relief valve controlling said connection and adapted to open upon occurrence of a predeterminedV flow condition across the restricter, and means including the sliding seal interrupting, .communication between the port and passages for pressurizing the piston,.when the. piston is in closed. position.

3. The mechanism of claim 2 wherein the relief valve is of the type adapted to open when the pressure differential thereacross falls below a predetermined amount.

4. In combination a conduit with a iiow restrictor means therein, a valve having a valve member for controlling now through the conduit, a pressure actuated mechanism for closing the valve including a pressure responsive member having a drive connection with the valve member, means subjecting the pressure responsive `member on both its sides to the pressure y upstream of the restrictor means, a vent means connected to the conduit downstream of the flow restrictor means for relieving the pressure on the side of the pressure responsive member to cause closing of the valve member, a snap action pilot relief valve controlling the vent means and responsive to the pressure differential across the relief valve, whereby the valve will be closed in response to the pressure drop across the ow restrictor means which is a function of the velocity of flow through the conduit, and means for closing that portion of the second mentioned means which pressurizes the side of the pressure responsive member with which the vent is associated when the valve member is shifted to closed position.

5. In combination a valve having a valve member, a ow fitting with a flow restrictor therein, both the valve kand fitting being adaptedto be disposed in a common conduit, a pressure ac, tuated mechanism for closing the valve including a pressure responsive member having a drive connection with the valve member, means sube jecting the pressure responsive member on both its sides to the pressure upstream of the restrictor, a vent means communicatingwith the fitting so as to Vreflect the pressure. downstream of the restrictor for relieving the pressure on the side of the pressure responsive member to cause closing of the valve member, a snap action pilot relief valve controlling the vent means and responsive to the pressure differential across the relief valve, whereby the valve will be closed` inresponse to the pressure differential across the flow restrictor which will be a function vof the velocity of ow through the restrictor, and means discontinuing communication between the vent and rst mentioned means when the valve mem'- ber is shifted to closed position.

HERBERT c. oTIs. '1

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the" le of this patent: Y

UNITED STATES PATENTS lr YSwitzerland June 1, 1929' 

